Never Laugh at Live Dragons
by Vive Lyf
Summary: There are three options for the life of the youngest prince of a kingdom: save said kingdom from disaster, sacrifice himself for his older brother, or rescue a princess from a dragon. Riku decides on option three… but will a prince work instead? RS
1. Remember to Factor in a Live Dragon

**Summary**: As the youngest prince of the Jenovan kingdom, Riku has only three options in life: save the kingdom from disaster, sacrifice himself for his older brother, or rescue a princess from a dragon. With a powerful father keeping the country safe and no real love for his older brothers, Riku embarks on a quest to find, and rescue, a suitable princess. Of course, things don't always go as planned, especially when the one princess who sounds interesting enough to marry is off learning magic… and has left her childhood friend in her place!

**Pairings**: RxS, some RxK

**Warnings**: Violence, maybe some language… and yaoi fluff. Yum.

* * *

**Chapter One**

"It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations."  
— J.R.R. Tolkien, _The Hobbit_

The Jenovan kingdom was a prosperous land. Composed mostly of rolling hills and the occasional river, it was abundant with natural resources. The open setting also made it the center of travel and trade, with people and goods from the various surrounding kingdoms making their way through Jenovan ports. Its capital city, Midgar, floated high above the plains on the magic of Jenova's elite magicians. Under the solid leadership of King Sephiroth and his army, many of problems that plagued neighboring kingdoms, such as dragons and rogue wizards, had been completely eradicated from Jenova. The kingdom was about as well off as a kingdom could be.

Which made things extremely hard for Riku.

As the fourth and youngest prince of the Jenovan kingdom, there were really only three options in life: he could save the kingdom from disaster, sacrifice himself for his older brother, or rescue a princess from a dragon. With no dangerous creatures running about and a palace full for magicians capable of diverting any natural disaster, option one wasn't an option at all for the Jenovan prince. Same for option two, as all of his older brothers were in no need of assistance from their younger sibling. Not that he would have chosen option two anyway; he wasn't particularly fond of his brothers and they had done nothing to warrant him sacrificing himself for their well being.

So the only option left was option three and it was beneficial in more ways than one. Not only would Riku's quest bring fame and honor to Jenova (not that it needed any more fame or honor in the first place) but with no local dragons, it would allow him to journey to faraway lands in search of a princess in need of rescuing.

In fact, the terms of the quest were so good, Riku allowed himself to be picky. There was no need to rescue just _any_ princess when it could mean a speedy return to Midgar. Instead, Riku wandered through the land in search of a dragon with similar taste in women. Strong willed, but still adorable. Intelligent, yet willing to admit mistakes. Capable of both calming words and witty comebacks. As he found out, very few princesses fit even one of those descriptions, much less all of them. After a few months of searching, Riku was almost about to admit defeat and go after the next cry for help when a passing caravan brought him news of Princess Kairi of the Destiny Islands.

A landlocked nation, Jenova did not have much contact with the sea-based Destiny Islands but Riku knew from his cultural and geography lessons that the nation was fairly well-off financially, despite being the smallest of the kingdoms. The traders' stories of the feisty princess, reportedly cast out of the kingdom by her own mother for her unprincess-like behavior, entranced Riku. If ever there was a princess as unhappy with her situation as Riku was with his, Kairi was her.

So he went to the Destiny Islands and spoke with the king there, who quite happily agreed to let Riku go rescue his daughter. There must not have been much interest in the princess so far. The scene was oddly familiar and he was reminded of the eager looks on his brothers' faces when he told them he was leaving for the quest. Another potential benefit: both kingdoms would be happy to be rid of their most troublesome young royals. Lastly, a quick letter to his father would give him the final permission he needed.

The Destiny Islands king gleefully informed him that Kairi had been taken during one of her unsupervised outings and that the dragon had been seen flying back towards the Land of the Dragons. He set off immediately after receiving a response from his own father, traveling over the canyons of the Pride Lands and through the deserts of Agraba until he reached the Land of the Dragons. The strange people who lived in those lands revered and worshiped the dragons that dwelt in the Xiang mountains. Had it not been for their Emperor and his imperial decree that limited outsider access to the mountain, mercenaries from neighboring kingdoms would have surely slain the dragons long ago. Instead, they flourished in the mountains enough to have somewhat overpopulated and spread out to terrorize other kingdoms were their presence was not as well tolerated.

As it were now, only a Prince on an official quest from a king could enter the mountains, and even then they were warned to keep their slaying to the one dragon that held their intended princess. It took nearly a week for Riku to be granted access to the mountains, which he spent stocking up on supplies and practicing his sword fighting. The only way to kill a dragon was to stab it in the underside of the neck, where the scales were thinly layered. Sharp teeth and fire breathing abilities made this an extremely difficult task, so Riku made sure to buy himself a flame-proof shield and new chain link armor.

Finally, he and his mare, Naminé, were permitted to begin the climb up to the dragon dens. At first they made slow progress; Riku wanted to be especially cautious until he learned what sort of creatures lived among the mountain rocks and Naminé struggled with the uneven paths. But as the days went by, they both became more confident in their surroundings and within a week they had made it to the upper portion of the mountain.

Having compared the account of Kairi's abduction and the records of dragons living on the mountain, Riku was fairly sure the dragon Leon was the one who had captured the princess. Leon was a fairly young dragon, but was in no way inexperienced; the emperor's logs had marked at least a dozen previous knights who had unsuccessfully challenged the dragon. The others had most likely been amateurs and although he knew the fight would be challenging, Riku was confidence enough to not be frightened by their failures.

The records had also given him the approximate location of Leon's caves, so he set off further into the mountains, careful to avoid the dens of other dragons. Leon's den was located on the far side of the mountain range, facing the sea. The view would have been breathtaking, had Riku not been more focused on the upcoming battle.

After a little investigating, he found all the entrances to the caves and marked them on a map. One of the more common mistakes made by amateur knights was to assume dragon dens had only one entrance and exit. Although there was usually one main entrance, a dragon could have as many as ten other smaller exits in which to flee from and surprise an unsuspecting knight.

After finding a small clearing in which to tether Naminé, Riku began his stakeout of the main cave. The larger opening would give him the maximum amount of space to maneuver in the fight. No matter how good the fire-proof shield was, it couldn't protect him from the smoke if he was pinned against a wall under dragon fire.

Then he waited. He learned Leon's hunting patterns (small catches every few days, a major hunting trip every two weeks) and the frequency of visiting dragons (Leon was apparently anti-social, as he had only one visitor in those few weeks). Finally, after many calculations and battle plans, Riku was ready.

The attack was planned for the afternoon, when Leon returned from one of his long hunting trips. The dragon seemed sluggish after those flights and Riku hoped to use his opponent's dulled state to his advantage.

The sun was rising to its highest peak as Riku crouched behind a large rock outside the cave. Only a little while left. He anxiously spun his sword in his hand. From his vantage point, he would be able to see Leon's shadow flying in before the dragon landed, so there was no reason for him to be so jumpy, but nerves won out over logic. A few times he thought he spotted the shadow, but it ended up being a passing cloud or a particularly strong gust blowing over some grass. Each time, he tried to calm himself and went back to waiting.

Finally, the distinctive shape of dragon wings signaled Leon's decent from the sky. Riku had a last few minutes to prepare. He quickly ran through his equipment. Sword, sharpened, in hand. Daggers, also sharpened, in his left sleeve and right boot. Chain mail, under his clothing. Shield-

"Hey, is that your horse tied up down by the bailey?"

Riku spun around quickly, sword posed and ready to charge. The voice was too melodious to be a dragon, who were known to have rough, scratchy voices, but another knight in area posed an equally serious problem. They could be a potential rival (although the mountain guards hadn't said that any other knights were challenging Leon) or after another dragon entirely, or…

Not. The person before him was certainly not a knight. He had no sword, no visible weapon of any kind, and no markings of a magician. In fact, his relaxed posture was entirely out of place amongst the rocks and bones outside the dragon den.

Ignoring the question, Riku snatched the other boy by the arm and pulled him down the hill quickly. The stranger protested, but made no move to try to break free of Riku's grasp; perhaps he was smarter than he seemed, wandering around in dragon territory unprotected.

After a tense minute or so, they had made it a safe enough distance down the hill. The boy snatched his arm away as soon as they stopped, glaring at Riku.

"I hope this means you're going to do something about your horse, now that you've both assaulted and kidnapped me," he said testily, the glare slowly being replaced by a general look of annoyance.

Riku took a second to catch his breath and calm his nerves before turning abruptly. His sudden movement startled the other and Riku used the moment of shock to take a good look at his companion. Deep blue eyes were widened in surprise, framed by a chaotic array of spiky brown hair. He was a young man, probably only a little younger than Riku himself. The splashes of color on his clothing said that he was some sort of nobleman, or at least dressed as one. Certainly not the kind of man Riku would expect to find around a dragon's den.

"Are you going to answer me or are you just going to stare?" Having apparently gotten over his surprise, the brunet had taken on a more relaxed pose, arms crossed as he eyed Riku skeptically.

'_No doubt questioning my manners… or my intelligence_.'

Riku bowed gracefully, as he might have done to an important guest at his father's banquets. For whatever reason, this person had been wandering around dragon infested mountains and was still alive… he was either crafty enough to have slipped by unnoticed or strong enough to hold his own. Either way, Riku decided it was best to play it safe and use flattery.

"My apologies for the kidnapping. I was not sure if you were aware how close you were to a dragon's den. One's safety must come before curiosity you know, so I felt assured that you would be able to forgive my rudeness once I had a chance to explain." He smiled the dazzling smile that would have had the ladies of the court gasping and the men chuckling enviously.

But he didn't expect it to have such an effect on this man. The brunet was obviously flustered, very unlike a nobly raised person who would have been used to such flattering speech. Of course, it wasn't uncommon for people to impersonate nobles. Riku was debating how to contact the mountain guards about a possible intruder when a piece of paper was thrust roughly into his hands.

"Yes, well, that's nice of you and all but I knew what I was getting into. You think anyone is stupid enough to walk into a dragon's den without knowing it? There were bones lying around everywhere!" He threw his arms up dramatically as he turned from Riku, apparently trying to hid a growing blush. "Anyway, that's a map of all the dragon's caves with princesses, so you can find whoever you're looking for and get out of here."

Riku flipped the paper open experimentally. It was a hand-drawn map, well done and extremely detailed, even listing the multiple entrances to each cave as well as what dragon and princess resided there. But it was missing something. One dragon wasn't listed…

"Hey, where can I find the dragon Leon and his captive, Princess Kairi?"

As Riku expected, the man froze. During the time Riku had been looking over the map, he had made it through the rocks and was nearly out of sight.

"Kairi doesn't need to be rescued."

Riku was taken aback. He grappled a second for an answer, before blurting, "What?" and realizing that it wasn't the most dignified answer. He cleared his throat before trying again. "Of course she needs to be rescued. She's a princess, trapped by a dragon."

The brunet had started back towards him with a purposeful stride. "And what are you, some knight who's going to save her?"

Riku didn't let himself rise to the mocking tone. "Perhaps I am."

The mysterious man had made it back around and stopped a few feet from Riku. "Well, like I said, Kairi doesn't need saving. Didn't you wonder why no other knights had been here for her before you?"

Riku had, in fact, wondered that briefly but it was no doubt the tales of her rebellious nature that had driven other knights to avoid rescuing her. And the fact that she had been taken by a particularly dangerous dragon.

This man was starting to get in Riku's way. "Why I'm here is unimportant. I have an official letter of access," he said, growing more and more annoyed but struggling to keep a controlled tone, "to challenge the dragon Leon to a battle for Princess Kairi. If you have any information relevant to my imperial quest, I demand that you tell me."

Riku tried to throw a bit of his kingly tone in. If he was right, and the man wasn't really a noble but was only pretending to be one, then he would know to not disobey a direct command from his superior.

It seemed to work. "She's not here," the other admitted reluctantly. "And she won't be back anytime soon. Don't think of going looking for her either."

Riku had had enough. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

The brunet smiled. "Oh, I'm Sora, captive of the dragon Leon. Kairi's replacement, if you will. And that," he smirked, gesturing up to the sky, "would be Leon."

* * *

_So yeah, what fun it is to be snowed in with no internet or electricity. Not much else to do but write and that's what I did. __Just a fun little piece I'll be working on when I get writer's block for CID... or get snowed in without my forensics books. Future chapters will be longer, this was more of a prologue that I didn't feel like labeling a prologue. Yeah.  
_

_Still, reviews would be very nice and helpful as strive to always better my writing! And they just make me happy. Spread the love people!_

_And if anyone is wondering, the title is a quote from _The Hobbit._  
_


	2. Dragon Bites are the Worst

**Chapter Two**

"You haven't been bit till a dragon does it."  
—Tamora Pierce

Riku didn't have much time to react; the dragon was only a few feet from landing. It must have flown in while Riku was preoccupied with Sora, obviously concerned about its Princess… er, Prince.

Riku threw himself out of the way of the landing dragon, moving into a crouching position and drawing his sword. Assuming he had understood Sora correctly, he didn't have a reason to fight Leon now that Kairi was gone but he doubted the dragon would just let him leave after he had 'kidnapped' Sora.

The brunet had also moved out of Leon's way, allowing the dragon to unleash a rain of fire down on the clearing. Riku quickly raised his shield, feeling the heat radiate around its edges. The ground shook as Leon landed but the stream of flames was uninterrupted. Riku scanned his surrounding area; there were a few rocks large enough to hide behind but he wouldn't be able to reach them without putting himself in range of Leon's claws. He was in the middle of coming up with another course of action when the fire abruptly stopped.

Riku didn't wait for the dragon's next move. He jumped back, shield still raised in case of another fire assault, and started moving down between the rocks. The uneven terrain would make it hard for Leon to charge, giving Riku more time to come up with an appropriate counter attack. All of his previous battle plans had involved the element of surprise; he was finding it difficult to strike back against an aware and already furious dragon.

From his spot between two rocks, he could see Leon stalking down the hill towards him with a confident stride. The dragon's self-assured stance wasn't entirely unwarranted; even with the rocks to hide among, Riku was at a definite disadvantage.

In any case, Riku wouldn't be able to maintain his defensive position much longer. He stashed the shield, instead trusting the rocks to give him enough protection from the flames, and focused on preparing an offensive attack. A thrust to the neck might be the only way to kill a dragon, but there were various other weak spots that would at least disable it. And disabling the dragon was all Riku could hope for, at least until he'd had time to rethink his plan of attack.

Leon had made it down the hill, one foreclaw visible on a nearby boulder. The dragon wouldn't be stupid enough to put his head down into the maze of rocks, risking exposure of its neck. Instead, Leon seemed to be trying to push various rocks out of his way, clearing a wide path towards Riku.

Riku wasn't going to give him time to create an even battle ground. He darted from rock to rock, making his way around the dragon who stayed concentrated on its work. Finally, Riku spotted his opportunity. As Leon shifted his weight against a particularly large boulder, Riku dashed in, sword aimed at the dragon's underarm. But Leon caught on too quickly, snapping his body around and out of the way. Riku's blade hit dense back scales instead and he was forced to use the momentum of the strike to push himself back out of the reach of the recoiling dragon. He was so focused on Leon's approaching head that he didn't notice the tail whipping forward until it smacked into his right leg, dropping him to the ground.

Before he could regain his balance, Leon had encircled him. Preparing for the worst, Riku raised his sword, hoping to at least give the dragon a nasty slash as it ate him, but the bite never came. He was instead snatched up by the large claws. The force of the blow knocked the sword out of his hand and he had no time to grab it before being lifted off the ground.

Leon turned suddenly, exposing Riku to clear blue sky visible from between the claws, then darted down the hill at a speed that caused Riku's stomach to drop. They stayed aloft for only a minute or two before Leon righted himself and started to descend. Riku was just about to make a move of his own when the claws opened and he spilled out into the air. A wave of panic washed through his body as he free fell downward, facing upwards toward the sky and unwilling to turn to see the approaching ground. He had one last view of the retreating dragon before he smashed into a body of water.

It took him a second to regain control of his body once underwater. Forcing down the panic, he started kicking his way upward. He broke the surface with a huge gasp of breath and floated there for a minute as the odds of his survival finally hit him. Either he was one lucky man or Leon hadn't been trying to kill him. The fact that he survived the fall at all suggested the latter; had he been any higher when he was dropped, he probably wouldn't have survived hitting the surface of the lake, either.

But there wasn't time to ponder the dragon's motives. He wasn't floating in just any lake, but one in the middle of dragon territory. And he didn't want to be caught unarmed if a dragon arrived for a swim. Ignoring the aches of his body from the fall, he paddled his way over to the edge of the lake, thankful that it wasn't very wide. He hadn't passed this particular lake on his way up the mountain, and landing in the water most likely had destroyed his maps. It would be a difficult climb back up to find Naminé.

After pulling himself out of the water, Riku did a quick check of his equipment. Nothing else seemed to have been lost in fight or drop, except the maps which were soaked and entirely unreadable. The loss of his sword was the worst of all. He felt defenseless without its familiar weight in his hand.

The lake was sitting in a sort of valley, flat land radiating out from it until the mountains rose up all on sides. No way of telling which direction went further up into the mountains. The sun still shone high above; it would take at least another hour to notice its movement in order to get a directional location. He would have to find a place to rest and dry off, preferably out of open area, so he picked a random direction and set off.

The long walk gave him time to reflect on his failure and by the time he reached the mountain walls, he was thoroughly pissed off. Neither the Destiny Island king nor the mountain guards had mentioned anything about Kairi running away from her dragon. Riku wasn't even sure how it was possible. It had taken him nearly a week of hard climbing, which a horse, to reach Leon's caves. A princess wouldn't have been able to make the climb down by herself without getting caught. And from what he'd heard about the princess, Sora looked nothing like her. A prosperous dragon such as Leon would have been smart enough to recognize the switch. Perhaps the dragon had approved of the trade off. All the textbooks on dragons were about ways to kill them, not why they stole princesses in the first place or what the princesses did during their capture. Maybe gender wasn't really an issue for the dragons at all, but it was the humans who decreed it improper for a male to be captured by a dragon.

The more he thought about the strange situation, the more curious he became. Riku hadn't inherited his grandfather's scholarly aptitude like his brother Ienzo but the chance to delve into the princess-dragon relationship was tempting. It meant he could continue to put off his return to Jenova for a little while longer and bringing news of an escaped princess was a good way to focus the gossip on Kairi instead of on him and his failure. Without a sword, Riku had no way of salvaging his reputation otherwise.

And there was Sora, too. What sort of person agreed to be a princess replacement for a dragon? He must know Kairi well, which meant that he did some sort of work in the palace but there had been no mention of a missing servant when he was in the Destiny Islands. Riku had come to find an interesting princess and had stumbled upon an even more interesting situation. It was an opportunity he didn't plan on walking away from.

The question was on how to get himself into Leon's caves to talk to Sora without getting caught and eaten. Leon may not have killed him the first time but Riku doubted that it was because the dragon cared about his wellbeing. He wouldn't be so lucky the second time.

He went back outside and checked the sun. From its movement, Riku could tell that he was north-east of where Leon's den was. It looked like he'd have quite enough time to strategize during the climb. Without Naminé and the maps, he was in for a long week.

* * *

Although he hadn't been thinking about it at the time, Riku had chosen a well marked clearing to leave Naminé in. The surrounding trees were dense enough to conceal the mare and her scent from passing dragons and the thick vegetation and stream would sustain her for the time Riku was away. It was only one of the densely covered areas on the mountain, which made it easy for Riku to find once he'd made the climb back up. But it had been nearly a month since Riku had left her and he could only hope the clearing was as well protected as he had thought.

He crept through the dense brush quietly, not willing to take any chances when he was unarmed. The path he and Naminé had beaten down was still there, looking just as clear as when they had gone through a month earlier. Another human had been through here. Riku vaguely remember that Sora had mentioned something about his horse when they had first met…

He didn't have to wonder for long. Spiky brown hair was visible through the leaves, as was Naminé white coat. At least she was safe. Somehow, Riku got the impression that Sora wouldn't hurt another creature. After all, he had gone to Riku about Naminé instead of getting Leon to come eat her.

As he got closer, Riku could hear Sora talking but he couldn't make out what was being said. Still cautious, Riku located a large tree near the edge of the clearing to hide behind. He didn't want to assume Sora was talking to Naminé when he could also be talking to Leon.

He was right to be cautious. There was another creature in the clearing, but it was not Leon. This dragon's hide was a dark brown and he was at least twice as bulky as Leon was. Riku could see the giant muscles quivering as the dragon whipped its tail around unhappily. Sora seemed to be arguing with it, a brave task considering he still had no visible weapons and Leon was nowhere to be seen.

The fight didn't go on very long. At one point, Riku thought the dragon was going to charge at Sora. Naminé whinnied with fear and Riku was about to charge in even without a weapon but the brunet just yelled something and the dragon backed off. Riku thought it sounded vaguely like "Marlene wouldn't want a bloody unicorn!" but he was still too far away to catch anything else.

Eventually, Sora led Naminé out the other side of the clearing, leaving the other dragon behind to sulk. Riku was about to turn and follow them when the dragon's head snapped around, eyes focused on Riku's location. Not good.

He barely had time to scramble back before the dragon crushed the tree he had been hiding behind. The scene was growing familiar to Riku; he was starting to wonder if the constant threat of dragon attacks was worth satisfying his curiosity.

He didn't have much time to think. Smoke was starting to come out of the dragon's nostrils, a sign of a less proficient fire-breather but any degree of dragon fire would still burn Riku to a crisp. His shield wasn't going to be able to protect him if the surrounding vegetation caught on fire as well.

Feeling around for some sort of weapon, he eventually clasped his hands around a pointed rock. He sprang up as the dragon drew its head back to breathe forth its fire, jamming the rock in between the scales of its exposed forearm. The dragon roared in the pain and began twisting around wildly. Riku turned to run, but not before the other set of claws left four deep gashes on his right side. He stumbled but caught himself, the fear of the dragon's next strike enough to force his body to ignore the pain.

His training finally kicked in and he managed to stay upright all the way back to the rocky side of the mountain despite the throbbing pain of his wounds. The dragon didn't try to pursue him, which was a surprise. Although painful, the rock shouldn't have seriously crippled it. Riku must have been lucky enough hit an old wound.

But feint with blood loss and still lost inside dragon territory, Riku didn't feel so lucky. He stumbled through the rocks with no destination in mind, because there was really no where he could rest safely.

In the distance he heard the whiney of a horse and for the other knight's sake, he hoped they weren't heading down into the clearing. If the dragon hadn't left yet, the knight would be in for an unpleasant surprise. But instead the hoof beats were coming towards his location. Maybe he was luckier than he thought. They stopped just beyond the boulder Riku was currently using to support himself.

He heard a surprised "Oh, Barret, what have you done", before an arm slipped around his waist. Sora helped him over to where Naminé pranced unhappily. She nosed Riku as he grabbed her reigns for support. His father had always said she was an intelligent horse and Riku could almost swear he saw real concern in her eyes. But it could have also been the blood loss.

With some help from Sora and much patience on Naminé's part, Riku managed to get himself in the saddle and the three slowly made their way back to… somewhere. Riku wasn't really aware of where they were going, although he guessed it was back to Leon's cave. He concentrated more on staying conscious and let Sora worry about navigating and Leon. The man had been able to stand up to one angry dragon already; Riku had confidence that Leon wouldn't be much of a problem if Sora was defending him.

The cave was coming into view. Riku was unable to keep his head up any longer; he lay down on Naminé's neck and permitted himself to finally pass out.

* * *

_Another rather short chapter. I wanted to put the chapter break in here before Sora and Riku really get to talking so the chapter wouldn't be obnoxiously long._

_Leave me an early Valentine's Day (Or Single's Awareness Day, which is what I will be celebrating this year) in the form of a review?  
_


	3. The Gift of a Tame Dragon

**Chapter 3**

"Challenge is a dragon with a gift in its mouth... tame the dragon and the gift is yours."  
—Noela Evans

The first thing Riku felt as he drifted back into consciousness was warmth. As he became more aware of his surroundings, he realized his entire body was covered with some sort of heated fabric and he could hear a fire burning in the background. Listening harder, he could make out feint scraps and clangs in the distance. Someone else was here. But where was here exactly?

It took a few minutes for the memories to come flooding back. Leon. Sora. Getting attacked. Sora again. The brunet was beginning to be a constant source of trouble for Riku. The smartest thing now would be to give up on the whole quest and just concentrate on making it off the mountain alive. But Sora had saved his life. That was something no moral person could just walk away from. And he didn't deny that he was still curious about the circumstances of Sora's "abduction".

His father knew from Riku's last letter in the Destiny Islands that he had gone to fight Leon. A quest to slay a dragon could last anywhere from a month to a year. Riku estimated that he had been gone about two months, not nearly long enough to be worried about being declared dead. Kings were not permitted to send search parties up after lost knights; the mountain guards would have no way of protecting the dragons from being overwhelmed by revengeful rescuers. Any knights that did not return within a year were declared dead. Even if he showed up alive after that date, he wouldn't be able to reclaim his inheritance. Time wouldn't be an issue as long as he kept good track of remaining days.

The real problem would be Sora. Riku had a feeling that Leon would go along with whatever Sora decided but convincing the brunet to talk to him would be tricky. Riku had already declared himself Kairi's suitor. With her gone, he had no real reason to remain and he didn't think mentioning his intellectual interest in Sora's predicament would be helpful. Sora didn't seem like the type who would appreciate being the focus of a scientific study.

Pushing the blanket off of him, Riku sat up slowly. He hissed as his constricting muscles tugged at the healing gashes. Putting his hand on his side, he noticed that the wounds were freshly bandaged. Exactly how long had he been unconscious?

Or, better yet, how had he managed to survive at all? That amount of blood loss would have been difficult for even Jenova's highest ranking magicians to refill, much less a nonmagic-user in a remote dragon den. _Uhg._ He needed to get up and start looking around before any more questions arose when he couldn't even answer the ones he already had.

He was a little dizzy upon standing but the vertigo faded quickly as his body adjusted to being upright. In the meantime, he cast an eye over the room. He had been in a small bed against the back wall of the stone room. It was dark, the only major source of light coming from the fire that burned in the corner nearest the bed. An opening in the ceiling allowed the smoke to rise out of the room but no light filter down through it so it must not have gone straight up to the outside. There was a door on the opposite wall which had been left open so that a small crack of light filtered in from the outside. He could make out a few dark shapes in the room, most likely furniture. He used there for support as he hobbled across the room towards the sliver of light.

Riku lightly pushed on the door. It swung out easily into a small, human-sized hallway. No need to worry about meeting Leon back here. The light he had seen from his room was from the small lanterns that were strung from the ceiling. The lanterns where filled with rocks which seemed to be the source of the light. He guessed that they were magicked but he had never seen anything like it before. Their magicians at home lighted the castle with small glowing balls of pure magic. The rocks seemed like an overly complicated way of achieving the same result.

From the general darkness of the hallway, Riku guessed that he was deep in Leon's cave. The hallway ended a few doors down on his left. One of those rooms was probably Sora's, but however curious he was, Riku knew that as a guest he shouldn't go snooping around his host's room. He went the other way.

The hallway did a few twists and turns before opening into a large cavern. And by large, he meant dragon-sized and then some. In the darken state of the cave he couldn't tell exactly how high the ceiling really was but the echoing sounds of his footsteps and the clanging from the other room told him enough. Not wanting to dwell out in the open, he headed towards the noise drifting through an open entryway. As he got closer he also noticed the scents wafting through. Probably a kitchen of some sort. Dragons could go hunting for meals but a princess wouldn't have the skills (or the stomach) to kill her own food. It would be interesting to see how dragons kept their captives fed, especially since some princesses stayed on the mountains for months before being rescued.

He stopped in the doorway, watching Sora dangle precariously over the largest cooking pot Riku had ever seen. Midgar's chefs would have loved a pot that big for when his father had all the nobles over for dinner. But the Jenovan lords probably wouldn't have liked what was being cooked. Riku could make out a hoof of some sort sticking out and what looked to be intestines hanging off one side. He sincerely hoped the meal was for Leon and not for Sora.

The brunet had yet to notice Riku standing there. He was busy throwing in what looked to be spices into the pot and occasionally stirring the concoction with an equally large wooden spoon. Riku waited until Sora moved away from the hot liquid to cough a few times and make his presence known.

As expected, Sora jumped and spun to face him. Had he been near the open flames by the cooking pot, the move might have ended badly. Sora didn't seem to be considering Riku's good deed as he strode angrily over to the door frame.

"You," he said, waving the cooking knife in his hand at Riku, "should not be walking. Do you want to reopen your wounds?" Riku was silent, keeping his eyes on the knife until Sora set it down on a nearby counter. The brunet walked over to him and, ignoring personal space, immediately started checking his bandages. "Considering I'm the one who would have to nurse you back to health _again_, I find your careless attitude a little insulting."

Any soothing response Riku might have said was cut off by a hiss of pain as Sora prodded one of the bruised areas on his chest. The brunet stopped, then moved between Riku and the door frame he was using to support himself. "C'mon, let's get you over to the table. I have something for your chest over there." Sora was careful to not put pressure on Riku's side as he helped the knight shuffle around the kitchen to a small table.

Riku hadn't even fully sunk into the chair before Sora began removing the bandages. He automatically tensed up, expecting jabbing pains but Sora was being especially careful, letting his hand glide over Riku's skin, pulling up the bandages as he went. Sora must have had some experience with natural healing before. Riku couldn't remember the last time he hadn't been healed with magic. In the prosperous Jenova, even the peasants didn't have to resort to natural healing.

Finally, the wrappings were gone, revealing four deep gashes just beginning to scab over. The longest one went from his right shoulder down the side of his body to his hip. Eventually they would leave an impressive set of scars but for now they were a painful reminder of how careless he had been and how close he had come to dying.

Pulling up another chair, Sora grabbed a roll of bandages and a container of white salve and began preparing Riku's wounds. The salve was cold on Riku's skin but Sora worked quickly to avoid causing Riku discomfort. Even so, Riku couldn't help but be tense the entire time. Sora was extremely disarming but Riku couldn't forget that he didn't know the man or his reasons for saving Riku.

Sora started to rummage through the pile of junk that cluttered the nearby table. The brunet pulled out a small jar, which Riku eyed skeptically. It was probably 'hedge magic', as their magicians in Jenova would have called it; its power came from the common person's willingness to believe various plants had the same healing properties as actual magic. It, too, had become rare in Jenova after his father had made a law against selling common plants as magical salves.

Sora unscrewed the top and the foulest odor Riku had ever smelled burst into the room. He coughed and sputtered a few times, embarrassed when he noticed that Sora wasn't having the same reaction to the contents. The brunet pulled a small cup out from somewhere in the pile of junk on the table and poured out a repulsive red goo from the jar. Riku knew immediately what was coming.

"Alright, now drink this." Riku was still coughing from the smell, unable to respond, but his look of defiance must have been enough. "You've already survived ingesting it once. You weren't so picky when you were bleeding out all over the floor."

"That must have been because I was unconscious at the time," Riku replied when the smell finally settled, eyes still narrowed at the cup of goo. "What is that, anyway?"

"Sanguin. It'll help replace the blood you lost and clear up those bruises. Now, no more stalling. Drink." Sora tried to thrust the cup into Riku hands but he swatted it away.

"Actually, I'll just bleed out now, thank you."

A glint of evil flickered through Sora's eyes. Riku had to stop himself from shrinking back. "Well then, I'm sure the dragons wouldn't mind a little something extra in their dinner soup. Something sweet. Something _fresh_." Sora's smile sent shivers up Riku's spine.

"Wait, um, actually, hey-"

In Riku's weaken state, he wasn't able to react fast enough to stop Sora from darting behind him. Seizing the back of the chair with two hands, Sora started pushing Riku towards the huge cooking pot. For a thinly built person, Sora was able to accelerate Riku with a surprising amount of force and speed.

"No, Sora, please wait, STOP, I'LL TAKE ALL THE MEDICINE YOU WANT ME TO TA-"

They stopped abruptly, only a few steps from the fire. It took Riku a second to realize that he wasn't going to die and he hesitantly uncurled from his protective position. Sora was hovering in front of him, a triumphant and smug look on the brunet's face. "What was that, my dear knight? I do believe I heard an oath in there." Riku's relief immediately changed back into fear. "Now, you wouldn't want to be one of those disgraceful knights who breaks his oaths, would you?" Sora pulled the cup of goo out of nowhere and held it out to Riku.

Sora was never going to throw him into the scalding hot liquid. He had played Riku. Riku, prince and decorated knight of Jenova. Riku snatched the cup and downed the goo in one gulp, trying to maintain some amount of pride. It didn't turn out to be such a good idea. The goo didn't go down as well as he'd hoped and the coughing it caused irritated his side even more. The pain must have been evident on his face because Sora immediately started fussing over him. The brunet maneuvered him over to a couch along one wall of the kitchen, which Riku sunk into gratefully.

"Now, you probably won't be very hungry after taking the sanguin but whenever you're up to eating just let me know. I'm going to be just over there," Sora said, gesturing towards the pot, "finishing up this stew." Sora fluffed Riku's pillow one more time before going back to cooking.

Riku closed his eyes briefly, leaning back against the pillow. The brunet was certainly not what he was expecting. One would think Sora would have been ruder to the man who had kidnapped him and attacked his dragon.

He watched as Sora handled the oversized cooking equipment with ease. There were various cooking book lying around the room, but no recipe could explain how to properly stir a stew with a spoon that was as tall as you were. If the dragons' expected their princesses to cook for them, then it was no wonder the princesses were so eager to be rescued.

Sora, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. Instead of merely reaching for supplies, Sora hopped and leaped about, throwing spices and powers into the pot. After while, Riku couldn't keep up with the amount of ingredients now in the stew. But however graceful Sora seemed with his cooking, it was stilled hard to get over the fact that there were organs floating in the liquid.

"I do hope you feed yourself better than… that." Riku said hesitantly, gesturing to a particularly nasty looking organ. More entrails seemed to be coming up to the surface as the liquid boiled.

Sora looked back at Riku with a smile as he leaned over the pot to stir. "What, worried that everything I feed you will be as repulsive as the sanguin?"

Riku was abashed at showing such disdain for his host's offerings but Sora took it in stride. "No, this lovely mess is for Leon and Cloud. I would tell you what's in it, but I don't think you really want to know. I mean, you might want to eat later." He laughed at Riku's horrified expression.

"I'm not sure which is worse: knowing or wondering." Riku stayed quiet for a little while longer, formulating his many questions in his head. "So, what else do you, ah, do around here?"

Somehow, his interest had sounded much more subtle in his head.

"Oh, you know, upkeep, cooking, cleaning," Sora answered, not looking up. "Organizing the library. Collecting ingredients. Entertaining guests. Anything Leon needs. He is out most of the day, hunting or brooding or chasing after Cloud, so I find things to do."

Encouraged by Sora's willingness to answer his questions, Riku continued his interrogation. "And all princesses are expected to do these activities?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, I think it's just me. So I guess you could say that all the captives except princesses are required to do it." Sora chuckled lightly to himself. He didn't seem to be harboring any resentment for being left as Leon's captive. "I don't even think the other princesses could cook if they tried."

"But you do."

"Uh huh."

"Why?"

That caught Sora off guard. He paused, turning to look at Riku. "Well, Leon is socially inept. He needs all the help he can get to woo Cloud. And Cloud loves cooked meat," he concluded, gesturing to the boiling organs.

"And Cloud is another dragon," Riku said, nervously looking at the door leading into the open cavern. As if one dragon wouldn't be enough to handle.

Sora snorted, although Riku couldn't tell if he was more amused by Riku's ignorance or his worried glance at the door. "Well, Leon certainly isn't going to pursue a goat."

The mention of other creatures reminded Riku of his original reason for returning to the clearing. "Where's Naminé?" Sora looked confused until Riku added, "My horse. And my sword." He looked down at his chest, suddenly aware of all that was missing. "And my other supplies."

"Whoa, hold on there." Sora stepped down from his stool and came over to Riku. "You're the who tried to kidnap me and attack Leon. Even if you were expecting Kairi and were allowed to challenge Leon, I'm not just going to give you back your weapon."

His argument was logical but Riku pouted anyway. In Jenova, knights were expected to eat, sleep, and even make love with their weapons close by. His wounds made him feel vulnerable enough; not having his sword would only be worse. "And the rest?"

Sora wiggled his finger in Riku's face. "You can't have anything else back until you're healed. Armor is a little impractical for someone in your state. You can see Naminé though, I've got her stabled in an alcove by the beach. It's connected to Leon's cave, so the other dragons won't mess with her." He smiled at Riku before noticing the other's contemplative expression. "What?"

"I didn't expect you to be so easy to talk to… or to answer any of my questions," Riku said slowly, watching Sora carefully for his reaction. "You're awful talkative to someone who in all senses is your enemy."

Sora didn't seem concerned. "Well, you'll be out of here as soon as you're able to make the climb down, so I don't see any problem with filling you in. It's not like you're going to go blab all our secrets to your kingdom when it means you'd have to admit that you needed help on your quest and you still failed."

Riku winced. The brunet's words cut deep. Even if Riku explained that Kairi hadn't been on the mountain, he had no way of proving it. "Careful there. I could still kidnap you. Then it wouldn't be a total failure."

Sora suddenly darted away, skipping back towards the center of the room. "You? What are you going to do, limp after me? Cripple me with a cook book? And even if you managed to catch me, what then? I'm the one with the overprotective dragon, remember?

Riku struggled to come up with a retort but couldn't. Sora was right. There were no other alternatives right now; he was entirely at Sora's mercy. Sora correctly interpreted his silence as defeat and cackled from across the room.

They were both silent for a few moments; Riku missing his sword and his dignity and Sora adding the final touches to his stew. Riku watched as Sora doused the fire with some buckets of water that had been in the corner of the kitchen.

The silence was eventually broken by a large thud from the ceiling above, followed by the sound of scraping claws. "Oh, good, finally." Sora ran to the door, sticking his head out and yelling, "Leon, over here!"

Riku jumped up, ignoring the flash of pain. Maybe Sora really had been planning to let Leon eat Riku. He was searching for some sort of weapon when Sora latched on his arm. "Stop that, I told you not to stress yourself. You've been staying in Leon's cave, the least you could do is come greet him."

Riku let Sora steer him over to the doorway, knowing that any sort of physical resistance would be futile in his current state. "Knights do not greet dragons," he argued weakly, looking back at Sora with a desperate look.

Unfortunately for him, Sora was resistant to his looks and refused to answer his arguments. As the two made their way out into the open cavern, Riku saw Leon sitting on the ground, his dark brown scales becoming almost black in the dark cave. A golden scaled dragon, Cloud presumably, perched on a ledge to the left, watching the emerging humans with a hawk-like interest.

"Every time I come over here, Leon, you have some new pet." Riku didn't like the way the golden dragon's eyes were focused on him. "Oh, but this one's injured. Dessert, perhaps?"

Sora released Riku's arm, stepping between the knight and the dragons. "Hey, Cloud, I'm right here. Let's keep the quips about people-eating to a minimum, okay?"

Cloud made a hissing noise and for a moment Riku feared that the dragon would attack Sora. Glancing at Sora's relaxed pose, he quickly realized that the hissing wasn't angry, but was the dragon equivalent of laughing.

Leon lowered his head down to the ground to greet Sora. "I am of a similar mind as Cloud. Eating him would be so much simpler. You will tell me if he becomes unruly, understand?"

Sora smirked at Riku. "Of course. Anyway, I don't think that'll be a problem after this little meeting." Cloud did his laughing-hiss again, exposing rows of sharp white teeth.

Riku would have to agree.

Leon was quiet, observing Sora. "I suppose you know what you're getting into. Do you have something prepared for dinner or shall we go hunt?"

To Riku surprise, Sora actually walked up to Leon and swatted him on the nose. "Silly dragon, you didn't think I would make you go hunt while Cloud is visiting?" Sora whisper, sliding up close to the side of Leon's head.

"No, I suppose you wouldn't," Leon rumbled before rising up to face Cloud. "Sora has prepared dinner for us, if you'll follow me."

The ground shook as Cloud jumped down to the main floor. With the two dragons side by side, Riku could see that Cloud was a little smaller and more leanly built than Leon. The golden dragon turned to Sora, fluttering the ruffles on its head. "You're so lucky to have him, Leon. I can barely get Belle to sweep up the kitchen, much less make me dinner. She apparently had magicked tableware back in her castle and is entirely unwilling to do any sort of cooking without them." The dragon might have rolled its eyes, but from this distance Riku wasn't entirely sure.

With a quick nod to Sora, Leon escorted Cloud through a large tunnel that seemed to run parallel with the one Riku had come down earlier. Sora jabbed him on his uninjured side. "There, that wasn't so bad, right?"

Riku glared at him. "I'm pretty sure Cloud would have eaten me if you weren't here. She seemed a little unstable."

Sora glanced at him, confusion flittering across his face. "She?"

Now it was Riku's turn to be confused. "Yes… isn't Cloud a female dragon?"

That made Sora crack up. Riku stood by, annoyance rising as Sora cackled. "No, no, you are so lucky Cloud isn't around to hear you say that," Sora said finally, wipping the tears out of his eyes. "Cloud is most certainly a _male_ dragon."

Riku was still confused. "But, I thought you said Leon was pursuing Cloud. You did mean romantically, didn't you?"

"Yes, well, dragons have a different social system than humans do. Who you reproduce with and who you love and share your den with can be two different dragons," Sora explained, watching Riku closely. "It's quite common, actually."

Feeling uncomfortable under Sora's intense stare, Riku turned back towards the empty cave. It was an honest mistake but he felt like he had somehow insulted Sora.

Neither man made a move to go back into the kitchen. "Wouldn't it be nice?" Sora started, arms crossed against his chest, "if humans could be like that too?"

Riku glanced at Sora. "Be like what?"

The brunet smiled slightly, but it seemed mocking. "Be able to be with the one they love regardless of other responsibilities. Dragons place love above all else. Little things like rank or wealth or producing children are unimportant if they find the one they love. I think that would be a great way to live, don't you?"

Riku could only hum in agreement. Sora spoke about the topic with such passion that Riku was afraid to say anything else. He had no doubt that he would be delving further into the brunet's past during his stay. His wounds would need at least a week to heal, and then another few weeks for him to regain his strength. He had maybe a month at most of solve the puzzle that was Sora and Kairi. It was time to get !

* * *

_Yay! We finally get to meet some new characters. Poor Riku is really not having a good time up there. But don't feel too bad, he'll start enjoying more as we go on. -creepy eyebrow wiggle-_

_Thanks for all the reviews guys! I'm glad to know I'm not the only poor sap celebrating Single's Awareness Day by reading/writing fanfiction. You all make me feel a little less pathetic! -sniffle-_

_Stay tuned for the next chapter and of course be sure to leave me a review! I'm not exaggerated, I feel much more inspired to write when I get reviews. Reading them and replying is a wonderful break from the stress of being a pre-med major._

_Keep me sane! Leave a review!  
_


	4. Magic vs Work

**Chapter 4**

"One man's 'magic' is another man's engineering. 'Supernatural' is a null word."  
—Robert A. Heinlein

Although time was of the essence, the wave of fatigue that hit Riku shortly after meeting Leon convinced him to wait another day before beginning his new quest. Besides, he had no desire to sit around and watch the dragons gorge themselves on the organ stew, even if it meant spending time with Sora. Instead, Riku accepted Sora's offer to use the bathing room before turning in for the night. The thought of washing off the crud and grime from the month on the mountain was enough to make the silveret want to cry with joy. He had accepted that the constant state of nastiness would be a part of the quest up the Xiang Mountains but that didn't mean he had to like it.

During the two days that Riku had been unconscious, Sora had managed to wash off most of his face and arms but the harder to clean areas, his hair, his torso, and his clothes, were still covered with dirt and blood. It was rather surprising that Sora had allowed him to venture out of his room looking like he did. He was practically skipping as Sora led him down the hallway, past his room, to one of the other doors. It took a few minutes of reassuring to convince Sora to let him bathe himself. "It would be a shame if you drowned after all I've gone through to keep you alive," the brunet had said with an odd expression on his face. A blush might have been accompanying it, but in the darkened hallway it was hard to tell for sure. Although flattered by Sora's concern, Riku sent the brunet off to converse with the dragons. He planned to take a long, relaxing bath and Sora seemed like one of those 'get in, get out' kind of bathers.

He watched as Sora walked down the hall, only going into the room after Sora was out of sight. Always hopeful, he checked for a lock on the door but it was just an ordinary handle. Not that there were too many people that could walk in on him here. Even Sora would probably be engaged for the next hour. It was just his old habits from living in a crowded castle that still hadn't faded after nearly seven months of travel. He turned his attention back to the room.

A large tub was sunken into the center of the floor in the middle of the room. Sora had mentioned a shaft along one of the walls, which Riku located after a moment of searching. "Just grab the cord and pull it down towards the bath," were Sora's instructions. It sounded easy enough. Grasping the dangling robe with his uninjured arm, Riku lowered the shaft, which he now realized was a water chute, down to the edge of the bath. Water began running down, steaming quickly filling the air. The upward strain of the chute reminded him to keep tight hold of the cord. The quickly rising bath water was worth the pain of straining his side.

Finally he was able to release the chute, which shot back up into the wall, cutting off the flow of water. He stripped, leaving his clothes in a lump near the door. He couldn't even consider wearing them again until they had been adequately cleaned. Another thing to ask Sora about.

Sitting on the edge of the tub, he eased himself down into the water. It was hotter than he expected; his toes and fingers, now used to the cold of the cave, burned when they hit the water. The amount of steam should have warned him but he was having a hard time believing that a remote dragon cave had access to heated water. But he didn't ponder the mechanics very long, instead enjoying the soothing feel of the water over his tired muscles.

Staring up at the ceiling, he saw a small opening which was drawing out the steam, much like the one in his room that vented the smoke. Riku was hit by a longing to see the sun again. In Midgar, he had never spent an entire day inside. Either his father would send him out to practice fighting or he would hide from his brothers in the castle gardens or take walks with one of his nannies.

Perhaps he could get Sora to take him to see Naminé soon. Sora said she was tethered down by the water. Having grown up in the landlocked Jenova, Riku never grew tired of seeing the ocean. Part of him wished his wounds would heal so he could go swimming; the other part wished they'd heal slowly and give him time to study Sora. He could hear his tutor's voice grumbling in the corners of his mind. _ Indecision is not becoming for a young royal, Prince Riku._

Memories of Jenova brought up memories of Kairi. It was surprising how quickly the princess had faded from his focus. Riku had come because Kairi had sounded interesting enough to keep his attention when most other princesses couldn't. But Sora was the real story.

Riku lost track of time, happy to slowly soak and ponder his course of action. It was easier to think with his body relaxed, but decent strategies of information extraction still eluded him. His best idea so far was to shadow the brunet and keep him talking in hopes of Sora accidentally revealing his secrets but Leon would quickly put a stop to that if he thought Riku was annoying Sora. It would have to be artfully done; he would need to make himself useful in some way. Find something that Sora was working on that he was knowledgeable about. If Sora cooked for Leon, it was safe to assume he probably did other chores as well. There was bound to be something that Riku could do.

He sighed, taking in one last minute of peace before hauling himself to the side of the tub. Sora had said to leave the water after he was finished but Riku had forgotten to ask about towels. Or clothes. What fit Sora's small stature and lithe frame wouldn't fit Riku and there was no way he was going to try on clothes left by the other princesses. The towels were something Riku should have looked for before the room had filled with steam. The water in the tube was evaporating faster than the slit in the ceiling could draw it out. He would have to wait until the room cleared to go looking for towels. Which was perfectly fine with Riku. He slipped back into the water,

Unfortunately for him, Sora knocked at the door only a minute later, leaving both towels and a fresh set of clothes that the brunet warned might be too big. "Leon looted them off another knight awhile back, although he was one of those really bulky guys so the clothes might be a bit wide," the brunet shouted from behind the door. Riku had announced that he was fully submerged in the bath but the brunet had still refused to come in. Perhaps his country had a different set of etiquette rules. It did make Riku curious as to what Sora would have done if he had accepted the offer to be bathed.

When he was mostly dry and dressed as well as he could be in clothes that were made for a man many belt sizes larger than his own, Riku found Sora waiting outside the door. "Geez Riku, I was sure you were going to be all wrinkly and nasty after a bath like that. Is that the popular style back in Jenova?"

Riku smirked. "Oh, it's popular enough. Who doesn't want an older, more _experienced_ mate?" He quickly maneuvered around Sora and headed towards his room. Sora's exclamation of "Oh, ew!" came right before he closed the door. Saying such things in Jenova would have certainly gotten him slapped. He might as well enjoy his freedom here.

In the artificial lighting of the cave, there was no way of judging the passing of the days and it wasn't until he sat down on the bed that he realized just how tired he was. Riku could only hope that draconian dinnertime was held in the evening, as human dinners were. He couldn't afford to upset his sleeping cycle too much, not when his body would need all the rest it could get to fight off infections. He didn't trust Sora's sanguin to work miracles.

Lowering himself down on the best, he tried to maneuver into a comfortable sleeping position but the pain in his side forced him to stay flat on his back. Despite how tired he was, sleep didn't come easily; there were too many thoughts floating around in his head to turn his mind off immediately. He didn't end up falling asleep so much as passing out into the relief of unconsciousness.

* * *

Riku woke up feeling mentally well rested but physically stiff. It took him a painful couple of minutes to loosen his muscle to the point that he could stand comfortably. The dark room once again gave no indication to how long he had slept. He felt a sense of déjà-vu as he once again limped across the room and out into the empty hallway.

During their brief tour yesterday, Sora had explained that the room two doors down from his was the bathing room and the door farther on was to the privies. That left three unknown rooms which Sora had been unwilling to show him. One of which was probably Sora's room. It took a great deal of personal restraint to keep from searching each room. It wasn't as if Riku expected to find a small fortune or Kairi hiding in the closet or anything, but his tutor had always said that you could tell a lot about a person from the state of their bedroom.

But since his friendship with the brunet was still tenuous at best, Riku turned from the tempting doors and headed back down the hallway.

He could hear the loud snoring echoes long before he saw Leon. The dragon was curled up in the open den, smoke rising from its nostrils with every snore. Riku stood in the entry way, unsure about his freedom of movement. Sora hadn't said anything about not being allowed out of the human quarters but Riku wasn't sure he was willing to risk his life on Sora's memory. The sound of footsteps echoing from the hallway drew his attention and a moment later Sora appeared with a stack of books in his arms.

"Hey, welcome back to the world of the living!" Sensing Riku's confusion, Sora smiled and added, "You were dead to the world this morning. I was sure you would be up early, ready to finally eat something but you were just sleeping away."

The mention of food initiated a sudden and intense cramp from Riku's stomach. The force was enough to make him feel nauseous, despite the fact that there was nothing in his stomach to throw up. Riku had never been so hungry in his entire life.

Sora must have correctly read the pain on his face because the brunet laughed, dumping the books in his arms beside the open hallway with a large _thump_. "Don't worry about Leon," Sora assured him when Riku glanced nervously at the snoring dragon as they passed into the kitchen, "he can sleep through anything. You two have that in common."

Sora continued to chatter as he sat Riku down at the table and served the food but all Riku was aware of was the smell of fresh bread. He devoured the first few pieces Sora put in front of him, taking a few bites of apple in between. It was halfway through the meal before he stopped to realize the quality of the food. On his trip up the mountain, he hadn't seen any fruit trees, or many trees at all for that matter. The rocky ground didn't make for good growing spots for large trees. The only greenery had been on the odd flat sections of the mountain which were few and far between. Sora must have planted his own fruit trees somewhere.

At least Riku wouldn't have to suffer through meals for the next month. During the climb up, he had survived off the few small animals he managed to catch and the odd berry plant. Actual food was a real blessing.

After inhaling every edible thing put in from of him, Riku was finally satisfied. He turned his attention to Sora who had somehow managed to clear off a spot of the cluttered table for himself. Meal time was a good place to begin a conversation. "So, ah-"

But Sora caught on too quickly, holding a hand up to stop Riku. "No questions. One would think you knights would know to stay out of other people's business."

Riku frowned. "Well, I hope you don't expect us to sit here in silence?" It was easy to forgo his usual formal language when Sora was being a poor host.

"You can talk to yourself, if it would make you feel better," Sora retorted, not looking up from his food.

Riku sighed. A few moments later, he sighed again and continued to do so until Sora finally glanced at him with an exasperated look. "Alright, you want to talk? You want something to do? Well, we're going to be cleaning this room today," Sora said, gesturing the piles of junk lying on the table around them. "Why don't you start going through the stuff near you? Food related things stay, anything else needs to be moved." He glared at Riku and when the silveret gave no immediate response, he turned back to his food.

Cleaning. Riku hadn't cleaned since… no, Prince Riku had never cleaned anything in his life. Except his weapons, and only because he didn't trust anyone else to do as good of a job as he did. He shuddered at the thought of going through the dusty piles. "_We_?" he finally said in a small voice.

It was Sora's turn to sigh. "Yes, _we_. You didn't think you would get to stay here for free, did you?"

Riku saw his chance and decided to take the risk. "But I don't have to help," he said cheerfully, hoping his confident attitude would prevent Sora from dismissing him immediately, "because you're not going to do anything to me if I don't." He paused, watching Sora's face intently.

The brunet met his gaze at first but quickly looked away. "You're right, I won't," Sora said, with a hint of a pout in his voice. Riku wondered if his own pouts were as irresistible as Sora's were. "I had just assumed that knights were honorable enough to pay back their hosts but I guess I'll just do it all by my lonesome."

Riku flinched. Nothing hurt a knight more than insulting his morals. But with compromise within his grasp, he swallowed his indignation. "Yes, well, it's too bad my quest has been going so badly. There's not much lower I can fall and not much dignity left to fight for." He let that sink in before adding, "Although I might be willing to lend a hand, assuming we can work out a compromise."

"Compromise?" The brunet perked up from his slump, focusing on Riku with a mixture of interest and skepticism.

Riku gave him a friendly smile, suddenly thankful for his years of ambassador training. Smile to please, smile to make them think they want this as much as you do. His father would have been proud. "I will agree to your terms if you agree to mine. I lend my help sorting through this…" He paused, eying the clutter with disdain. "…mess and you answer my questions." When Sora didn't look respond, he added, "Or I guess you could just talk to yourself while you work, if it would make you feel better."

Sora blushed, looking embarrassed at having his own words thrown against him but didn't turn down Riku's offer automatically. It was a good sign. Riku hadn't been entirely sure that Sora would allow him to challenge his authority like that. The brunet seemed to genuinely care about his well being but Leon had warned his charge to give Riku up if he became a problem for the brunet. Riku just couldn't miss any opportunity to get Sora talking, especially when the other didn't seem to want to let the information out easily.

"Fine," Sora said finally as Riku felt relief wash through him. "But I get to skip questions I find irrelevant to your quest." Riku was about to protest when Sora interrupted, "Regardless of how wrong it would be to feed you to Leon, it's still an option."

Riku held his tongue, instead reaching for the nearest item. It was a container of something that sloshed when Riku picked it up but the label was too worn off to make out what it was. "Alright then, tell me again what I'm doing with all this stuff."

Sora, who had moved to stack his plate in the sink, came over and took the container from Riku. "Well, if we're going to have two people living here we're going to need more eating space." He smirked. "I really should have cleaned this place with Kairi before she left but since it's only me living here now there isn't much point to keeping it clean…"

"Don't feel the need to tidy up on my account," Riku injected hopefully.

"…but now I have you to help so it shouldn't been too bad," Sora continued, ignoring Riku's interruption. "Basically, just sort the stuff into edible food, rotten food and not food. I'm sure there's a good mix of all three in here. Anything you can't sort," he gestured to the jar in his hand, "can go in the rotten pile to be thrown out. It isn't much use to us if we don't know what it is."

Riku set the second jar he had picked up back on the counter. "Couldn't you just use magic? I know a few spell that can detect food. It won't sort out the unlabeled stuff, but it's a start."

"I don't use magic." From the slump of Sora's shoulders, Riku was afraid he had once again offended the brunet with his ignorance but that was quickly replaced with an entirely different set of fears.

"Don't… or can't?"

This time, Sora turned to meet Riku's gaze. "Don't," he answered, more confident this time. "I'm sure I could, but I was never very good at it and I don't see any reason to mess with the stuff. Anything you can do with magic I can do without." As if to prove his point, Sora summoned a small gust of wind that blew open the pages of the surrounding cook books.

Internally, Riku sighed in relief. He had feared for a second that Sora was a Nobody, a person who had lost their connection to the life stream and therefore their use of magic. They were considered outcasts throughout most of the kingdoms and deservedly so. Anyone the life stream wouldn't support wasn't someone Riku would want to be associated with.

"Then, would you be opposed to me using magic?" Riku smiled at Sora's incredulous look. "I was a fairly decent magic student before my father insisted I focus on my swordsmanship."

Sora was reluctant at first but finally consented with one last ominous threat, "If anything goes wrong, I'm telling Leon you were acting on your own." Riku pushed aside his fear, letting eagerness take over. Even the lowliest Jenovan mage was still more powerful than the greatest magicians of other countries. Riku needed a way to prove himself useful to Sora and this was as good away as any.

Sora stood off to the side of the table, looking skeptical. Riku ignored him, focusing on the pile of junk before him and the faint flow of the life stream from within. Slowly, he began drawing up magic into his body. A well trained magician would keep a good supply of mana with him at all times but Riku hadn't needed it since leaving the castle.

"Just how long is this going to take?"

His concentration broken, Riku turned to glare at Sora. "As long as it needs to. Unless you really do want something to go wrong?" Sora quieted with sulky look.

Focusing again, Riku drew up the last bit of mana he could before releasing the flow. The spell he decided on was a variation of the one he had used on his trek up the mountain to check the edibleness of the berries and plants. He altered the spell slightly to make a visible and lasting distinction between the edible and inedible items. It wouldn't be much use if only he could see it. He knew his spell had worked when he heard Sora's sharp intake of breath.

"It's so… pretty." The various cans, jars and books were all glowing with a spectrum of light.

Riku examined the unknown jar, which was now radiating a deep orange color. "Reds and oranges are the inedible things like books and poisons, blues and greens are actual food."

Sora huffed, trying very hard to not look as impressed as he was and failing miserably. "Well," he said testily, snatching the jar from Riku's hand, "we're still going to have to go through a pick out the unlabeled ones."

Riku just smiled at him and starting sorting through the pile. His goal to prove himself useful had been accomplished and it was no use further antagonizing the brunet, however fun it may be.

They slipped into comfortable silence, as Riku waited for Sora to reinitiate conversation. "Where did you learn a spell like that? I can't remember seeing anything like it in the Destiny Islands. How does it know what's edible for people?"

Riku frowned inwardly. He had already guessed that Sora was from the same kingdom as Kairi. It was doubtful that the princess would leave a total stranger in her stead.

"Well, it was created by my eldest brother Ienzo. He altered a poison detection spell to include any substances that were not safe for human consumption. Technically it was created to use in the wilderness when you aren't sure if you can eat certain berries but it works to clean out kitchens too."

Sora made an impressed noise. "Sounds like something Kairi would be interested in." Riku must have suddenly become a little too interested because Sora laughed an added, "Since you're dying to know, she's off studying magic in Twilight Town. There's a famous wizard named Merlin there who is known for taking on any student with magic potential, including princesses."

"So she runs off to live her own life and leaves you here?" Riku said slowly, keeping his eyes on his work to conceal his eagerness. "That doesn't seem fair."

"No, it was fine with me. When the queen sent Kairi out to get captured, I was happy to accompany her. I'd take the peacefulness of life up here than the demands of court life or the uncertainties of being around mages. Whoa, what is _that_?"

Riku glanced up at Sora to find the brunet staring at the jar in his hand. He turned it over once before jumping back as some purple fizz dripped out onto the table. Riku noticed that there was no aura around this particular jar.

"I thought you said your spell could sort everything?" Riku didn't like the nervous hint in Sora's voice or how more fizz was starting to come out.

"Everything that Ienzo cataloged. This must be something we don't have access to in Jenova." He scooted away again towards Sora as the spill began seeping onto the chair he had previously occupied.

Sora crept up to meet him, both watching liquid continue to fizz all over the table, chair and floor. Riku nudged the brunet. "Well, go clean it up. You're the potions master here, right?"

Sora frowned, making no move towards the mess. "Are you kidding? Who knows what sort of stuff dragons keep in their kitchens?"

"Then why were we looting around the kitchen?!" Riku practically screamed, distressed by the fact that fizzing liquid was still coming out of the jar despite the copious amount of the substance already on the floor.

"Well, it did need cleaned…" Sora chuckled nervously as Riku dragged him out of the room and away from the advancing wave of purple. They ran out into the cave where Leon had moved into a lounging position.

"Change your mind about keeping the knight around, Sora?" Leon said offhandedly until their frantic state caught his attention. "What's wrong?"

Riku let Sora explain, still wary of the dragon. "Well, we were trying to organize that mess of a kitchen and Riku offered to use magic to help but then he picked up this jar that started leaking everywhere and now the whole kitchen is covered in this nasty, fizzy liquid."

Leon cocked his head inquisitively. Riku had to keep himself from jumping back as the dragon lowered his head to peer inside. "Leave it to a knight to screw everything up," Leon muttered before blowing a gust of smoke into the kitchen. As the dragon drew himself back up, Riku made sure to keep Sora between him and the angered dragon. "That was chimera blood. It reacts badly with magic. I got it as a gift from Aerith," he added, looking pointedly at Riku.

Thankfully, Sora came to his rescue. "It's my fault Leon. I never use magic so I didn't think to ask you if it was all right."

The dragon snorted but Riku was relieved when he made no motion to attack. "Well, smoking the room should have only stopped its spread. You were smart to not touch it; chimera blood burns human flesh. You're still going to have to clean up the left over muck though, once it hardens and becomes safe to touch." Leon gave Riku a toothy draconian smile. "But I'm sure this dear knight will be happy to help clean up his mess."

"Quite happy," Riku had no choice but to agree and let Sora drag him back into kitchen a few minutes later. Anything but being under Leon's disapproving gaze.

The room was still smoky but the vents in the ceiling, which Riku was noticing in almost every room, were slowly clearing the air. The disastrous liquid had spread over almost half the kitchen area, leaving behind a hard and utterly repulsive purple coating.

Apparently, Sora was as excited to touch the mess as Riku was, because the brunet sighed before beginning to dismally chip away at the table. Riku felt a pang of guilt. He couldn't have known about the chimera blood but he shouldn't have started casting magic in an unknown location just to impress Sora. Besides, he couldn't have this event ruining the progress he had been making with Sora.

"It's not your fault, you know." Sora looked up at him. "Potions and I don't get along. My father tried to hire a suitable tutor to teach me potion making but I ended up permanently staining their skin or poisoning them and everyone gave up." Encouraged by Sora's slight smile, Riku continued, "This one time, I was supposed to be creating a sleeping potion but something went wrong so I threw the potion out. Apparently, some of the castle dogs and cats got into my leftover potion and by the time we figured it out, all the mammals in the castle were bald."

Sora laughed and Riku loved how warm and infectious it was. "Wow Riku, I'm impressed you had the guts to tell me that. Imagine, the great Riku having some troubles in his youth."

Riku let Sora snicker a bit longer, hoping that the brunet would share a childhood story of his own. His plan worked.

"Kairi and I were an awesome potion making team. I would handle all the cooking and she would supply the magic. Of course, that stopped when Lea tattled to his mother about Kairi using magic…"

"Lea as in Prince Lea?"

Sora tensed, all hint of smiles suddenly gone from his face. "Yes, His Highness is Kairi's older brother." Riku didn't miss how the Destiny Island heir had gone from 'Lea' to 'His Highness".

Riku pressed on. "So you knew all the royal children? I'm a little jealous. My father wouldn't let me make friends with anyone except my siblings and we were too busy beating each other up to be friendly. Maybe if I had someone like you around, I wouldn't have such an ego, eh?" He tried to joke, to get a smile out of the brunet but Sora seemed oblivious to the conversation.

Something that had already been said had upset him. Something about Kairi and Lea and his childhood memories. Something that wasn't going to be said now.

Riku resisted the urge to go over and comfort the brunet, knowing that his presence would only continue to drag up whatever painful memories Sora was reliving. Instead, he used his wounds as an excuse to retire to his room once the majority of the gunk was cleaned. He made sure to leave enough mana with his sorting spell so that Sora would be able to make progress in the kitchen if he chose to do so. Sora barely acknowledged his eventual departure, still caught up in the past Riku was so desperate to understand.

But did he want to know because it was connected to Kairi or because Sora was now a part of it? The princess had been his reason for the quest and he still wanted to meet the girl he had heard so much about but he found his thoughts drifting more towards Sora. If Kairi was so easily forgotten after only a few days in Sora's company, what would happen after a month?

And how, after the mistake with the chimera blood and their last conversation, was Riku going to make Sora feel the same attraction towards him that he felt for the brunet?

* * *

_Sorry for the lengthy wait! I was up in Vancouver last month for the Olympics and have been recently struggling to make up three weeks of missed classes. D: But it was totally worth it to see Apolo Ohno race and Yu-Na Kim shatter the figure skating record. -fangirl spazz-_

_At least I gave you a *comparatively* long chapter to make up for it.  
_

_Anyway, we start uncovering some of Sora past here and a hint of a plot (if you squint with your head at a 180 degree angle). I based the water chute in the beginning off the bath house in the movie Spirited Away. Besides, dragons breath fire, I'm sure they can heat water too.  
_

_Thanks for the the reviews guys! See you all next chapter!  
_


	5. Friends are Enemies that are Still Alive

**Chapter 5**

"Noble dragons don't have friends. The nearest they can get to the idea is an enemy who is still alive."  
—Terry Pratchett

When Riku walked into the kitchen the next morning, he barely recognized it. The piles of ingredients had been moved into the previously empty cabinets and cook books had been neatly organized on a bookshelf Riku hadn't even been able to see before. Riku could only imagine the amount of work it had taken to get the room cleaned and he felt a pang of guilt about his early departure. But he could stand the guilt as long as he got to enjoy the sight in corner of the room.

Sora was one of those people who could haphazardly fall asleep anywhere and look as if they had been delicately posed. Scrunched up in the corner of the room, head resting on the back of the chair, one last book in his lap, Sora managed to make sleeping on the kitchen floor look comfortable. Not enough that Riku was eager to try it himself, but he could definitely admire the scene.

He was about to rouse Sora when he heard a gruff call from the lounge, as the large room was called (at first Riku had been confused as to why anyone would want to lounge in a damp cave room but he soon realized that it was the dragon's lounge, not the human's lounge and felt rather silly). He froze, hoping that Leon was muttering in his sleep or at least talking to another dragon but he clearly made out "Sora" from the second call. Glancing at the deeply sleeping brunet, Riku made a quick decision and walked out to greet Leon.

The bronze dragon was perched on the ledge Cloud had been on the night before, the one closest to the entrance of the cave. He was probably heading on some errand, one of the many activities Riku witnessed during his time observing the cave.

Riku noticed the dragon's eyes narrow at his appearance but tried not to cower back. Despite being injured and weaponless, he was still a Jenovan prince and it wouldn't do to back down to a challenge.

"I call for my housekeeper and I get a pest," Leon growled, tail swishing in a way that reminded Riku of the castle cats he used to torment as a child. He did find it interesting that Leon referred to Sora as his "housekeeper" instead of "captive". A mere euphemism or was Sora really welcome to leave if he chose to do so?

"Sora's still asleep," Riku said, relieved that he was able to keep his voice steady. "It seems he was up all night cleaning the kitchen and I didn't want to wake him."

Leon seemed to be pondering this and Riku hoped he would leave and save his message for later. But just before Riku was about to slip back into the kitchen, Leon rumbled and snapped, "Weren't you suppose to be helping him with that?"

Hearing the dragon say aloud what Riku had been thinking earlier made him feel even worse. "We… got talking about some, uh, personal matters and I decided that my presence was no longer welcome."

So much for his confident projection. But Leon accepted his explanation, leading Riku to guess that the dragon was fine with having Sora annoyed with Riku.

"When he wakes, tell Sora to see Yuffie about acquiring more chimera blood," Leon paused here, glaring at Riku who managed to look somewhat abashed about wasting the dragon's supply. "It's a powerful ingredient that I don't want to be without. Sora will know what to say in order to have Yuffie comply with my request. I will be back by sundown," Leon said, turning to spring out of the cave. Riku managed to catch his threat "If you forget to tell Sora, you have until then to live" before the dragon took off.

Leon was long gone before Riku was able to move again. Normally, the Jenovan prince would have never let anyone threaten him like that, even a dragon, but Leon had a frightening amount of power over him. Not only could the dragon kill him in his weakened state, but worse, Leon could decide to keep him away from Sora. He ran back to the kitchen, as much to get away from the dragon den as to make sure Sora was still there.

The brunet had miraculously managed to sleep through Leon's rumbling. Despite how comfortable he looked, Riku knew Sora was going to wake up with a nasty cramp from his unorthodox sleeping position. An advantageous idea came to him. He carefully slid his arms under Sora and lifted him up.

It wasn't until he was standing in the human sized wing of the cave that Riku realized he still had no idea which room was Sora's. But at least the brunet in his arms finally gave him an excuse to look. He left Sora in the spare room he had been staying in and began his search, starting with the nearest door. It led to a well stocked study, with books lining the walls and an ancient looking desk with paper and ink in the center of the room. Riku could have easily spent days going through the books on draconic history but he finally managed to pull himself away with thoughts of Sora dozing in the next room.

The second room he tried was locked, although Riku recognized the imperial symbol for weapon on the handle. The armory and Riku's weapons were probably on the other side, but since Riku had no notion of where the key might be found, he was forced to move on.

He knew he had come to Sora's room even before opening the door. A small amount of light filtered through the crack between the door and the ground, a rarity in the ever dark cave. He swung the door open cautiously and when he was sure there were no anti-invasion spells on the threshold, he went to get Sora.

The brunet stayed asleep the entire time Riku was moving him back to his own room, only stirring once as Riku laid him on the bed. Now, with Sora in the room, Riku let himself have a look around; should the brunet wake, Riku could use the excuse of searching for another blanket.

The room was better lit than Riku's, with natural sunshine filtering through a small slit in the rock towards the ceiling. That wall must face the outer edge of the mountain side. It was nice to stand and soak in the small amount of sun. Riku yearned to crawl up the wall and squeeze outside; it was only curious interest in the rest of the room that kept him from attempting to do so.

The room was scarcely furnished, which didn't surprise Riku. Sora didn't seem like the kind to stay holed up in his room. Riku's own room in Jenova had been more cluttered, as it was his only refuge from his brothers and therefore a favorite place to be.

There was another bookshelf beside a desk next to the bed. Riku skimmed through the titles, wondering what books were so important to the brunet that he didn't want to keep them in the main library. To his surprise, the majority of the topics were on politics: ancient politics, modern politics, mythical societies, experimental ruling styles. Heavy reading for someone not in line for a crown.

The last book on the shelf was out of place compared to the previous titles. Riku carefully pulled "Achieving Peace through Good Foods and Meals" from its spot on the end and flipped it open to the table of contents. The book explained how to use food as a way to bring people together, from families to feuding countries. But the information didn't catch Riku's attention as much as the handwritten dedication on the next page did.

_Sora,_

_Let this be a mere taste of what is to come, based on the kindness and love you have shown me._

_-Lea_

Riku closed the book and was surprised to see Lea Hikari listed as the author. How the Destiny Island prince had gotten away with publishing a cook book, Riku didn't know. Sephiroth had gone out his way to keep his sons from having any involvement in domestic arts like cooking or cleaning. Riku doubted that social expectations were so different in the Destiny Islands as to allow a crown Prince to work as a chef in his spare time.

What concerned Riku even more was the mention of _love_. "Love" was terribly overused by the general public to refer to anything they took some degree of pleasure in but it was nearly taboo for royalty. Nobles couldn't throw the word "love" around without fearing that someone would take it too literally and they would end up in a forced marriage to someone they hated. "You do not love people, you enjoy their company. People should not love you, they should admire and respect you." His tutors had been drilling these lines into his head ever since he could talk.

But here was "love" and "kindness" written by a fellow prince in the cover of a cook book. If he hadn't found it on Sora's bookshelf, Riku might have thought it was some sort of joke. It seemed unlikely that an unthinkable act in one country would be allowed in the other. The only logical conclusion was that Sora had been more than just another subject to the Prince.

And where the hell did Kairi fit into all of this?

Riku suddenly felt like the intruder he was. His hands were shaking with anger and jealousy as he returned the book to the shelf. If Prince Lea cared about Sora at all, he shouldn't have let his mother cast the brunet out with her flighty daughter. The prince hadn't even sent a search party up in the last two years to see if Sora was still alive; in fact, based on the log books he had been forced to sign before starting his quest up the mountains, no one had visited Kairi since she was taken. Why would Sora keep a book from someone who obviously cared nothing for him?

Riku turned on his heels and strode out of the room, stopping only to gently latch the door before continuing down the hallway. He couldn't stand the thought of having Sora wake up to find him in his current state. He needed to get out of the room; he needed to get outside. Starting down the hallway, he yanked open every door he could find, not to investigate the other rooms but to find the door that Sora had mention earlier when talking about Naminé's location. Sora's room was along the correct wall, now he only needed to find the right door.

Bright blue skies finally greeted him from behind the fourth door he tried. He walked out onto a ledge, taking in the ocean spread out before him. It would have been considered a hot day in Jenova but up on the mountains there was a constant cool breezing rolling through that made it comfortable.

He let some of his emotions dissipate into the movement of wind and the crashing of the sea. After taking a few minutes to simply enjoy the sense of being outdoors again, Riku wandered over to the edge of the ledge and peered down. Waves crashed on a small beach some distance below him. He noticed a set of jagged rocks jutting out from the side of the cliff that seemed to create a pathway down. Stretching out experimentally and feeling only a slight ache from his healing wound, Riku decided to attempt the climb. Naminé was down there somewhere and anything was better than awkwardly waiting around for Sora to wake up.

Taking his first steps down, Riku realized that the rocks had definitely been cut out to form a crude set of stairs. It was still a hazardous and exhausting descent, but at least Riku didn't have as much trouble as he had with the rocks outside the dragon's lair.

By the time he reached the ground, his side was throbbing. He carefully checked to be sure he hadn't reopened the wound. Finding no blood, Riku allowed himself to flop onto the beach, enjoying the feel of the sun heated sand on his tired muscles. He kicked off his shoes and dug his feet into the ground, slowly burying himself up to the knees. Water sprayed from the waves crashing against the rocks but for once he didn't mind getting wet.

From his position on the ground he could see a path through the rocks leading up alongside the mountain that hadn't been visible from the ledge. He took a quick rest before pulling himself back up to continue. He didn't bother to put on his shoes, instead leaving them on a raised rock, out of the way of the incoming tide.

Beneath his feet, sand turned into dirt which turned into grass as the mountain path and beach diverged. Trees continue to spring up until he could no longer see the water's edge. The path finally dumped out into an open field, complete with a small lake and natural boundaries of the mountain and trees to keep the herd of animals grazing by the lake from wandering.

Riku hadn't realized how much he had missed his mare until he saw her galloping across the field towards him. He started running, springing up onto her back when they finally met. The movement twisted his wound and the wave of pain knocked the breath out of him but he managed to stay upright. Naminé, sensing her owner's discomfort, kept at a slow trot until the pain subsided and Riku urged her on.

Naminé reminded him of everything he hadn't known he had been missing these past few days; the freedom of movement, the joy of solidarity, the power of confidence. He focused all his energy on riding, forcing himself to release the stress he had been building up ever since starting his quest. His body was the first thing to relax, soon followed by his mind.

It was silly of him to be jealous. Foremost because he had just met Sora; it was presumptive to think that he had the right to claim the brunet already. Riku was aware that he could be possessive of the people he loved but he never expected to have that apply to Sora and certainly not so early in their relationship.

But if Lea could entrance the brunet, there was no reason Riku couldn't as well. Almost a year into his search for a mate, Sora was the only one who had managed to hold his interest at all. Old scars wouldn't stop Riku from pursuing this.

Naminé kept to the perimeter of the clearing before finally cutting back through the herd of sheep. His horse must have tormented the other animals before, as the sheep quickly darted out of Naminé's way with unhappy calls.

As they rounded a thick edge of forest, Riku wasn't surprised to see Sora waiting for him by the path entrance with what looked to be Riku's forgotten shoes in his hands.

"Don't leave anything out that you wouldn't want young dragonets to stumble upon," Sora warned with mock severity, betrayed by the hint of a smile tugging at his lips. "I said no dragons would come back here to bother her but Leon's got a couple of feisty dragonets who are still small enough to make it through the forest." From the other's playful attitude, Riku guessed that he had been forgiven for his comments last night.

"How did you know I was down here?" Dismounting, Riku accepted his shoes from the brunet, leaning against Naminé for support as he slipped them back on.

"I didn't remember falling asleep in my room last night," Sora said, eying Riku in a way that said he knew that Riku had been looking around, "so I knew that you were at least awake. Then it was just figuring out where you wandered off to. I would have guessed you'd be in the library but I suppose this," he gestured to the clearing, "makes sense too. Staying in that cave too long would make anyone go crazy."

From the way Naminé nuzzled Sora, Riku was sure that she was being taken care of and had no problems leaving her in the clearing, to the dismay of the flock of sheep that scattered from around the lake when the horse went to drink.

"I saw Leon this morning," Riku started as they both stood watching Naminé chase the herd. "He wanted us to go ask Yuffie for more Chimera blood." Riku tried not to look at Sora as he spoke. He didn't want to see Sora's reaction.

"Did he say what he needed the Chimera blood for?"

Riku let out a silent sigh, glad that the other boy didn't seem as upset as he was before. "He said that it was an ingredient that he needed to have. He wanted us to have it by this evening." Riku intentionally left out Leon's threat, knowing that it would only make the brunet concerned.

Sora pursed his lips. "And you're sure he said to ask Yuffie about it?"

A look of indignation must have shown on Riku's face, because Sora quickly amended, "Not that I don't believe you, but Yuffie is probably Leon's least favorite person, er, dragon. I just can't imagine him asking her for a favor when he knows she's going to make him pay her back later."

"Maybe he plans to have us repay her instead," Riku chuckled nervously. He meant the comment to be amusing but he also realized that there was a good chance that had been Leon's plan all along.

"No, I doubt there's anything we humans could do for her. Yuffie, she's… well, she's a little different than the other dragons you've met so far." The way Sora smiled fondly while thinking about the dragon made Riku even more worried.

Sora's smile quickly shifted into a frown. "I'm not too fond of Yuffie's princess though. Let's just hope Yuffie is home so we don't have to spend too much time in the presence of the gracious Lady Olette." The sarcastic, biting tone of Sora's voice was something Riku hadn't heard from the brunet before. Whatever Olette did to anger him must have been severe.

A quirky dragon and an angry princess. Riku was going to have a long day ahead of him. As they started back to the cave, Riku gave the clearing one last longing look. He had a feeling that all the frustration he had released would be back by the evening. But Sora called out to him and he dutifully turned and followed.

* * *

Sora's chosen route to Yuffie's cave was longer than necessary but avoided any strenuous climbs, which Riku was extremely grateful for. Along the way, Sora pointed out plants that were unique to the Xiang Mountains and Riku recounted stories from his climb up. Riku had years of experience making small talk in court but found he didn't need the experience as the conversations with Sora were unforced and enjoyable. He had almost managed to take his mind off their meeting with Yuffie by the time they reached her cave.

Sora had been right, Yuffie's lair was one that Riku had passed on his initial climb. He remembered it because of the odd… decorations surrounding the entrance. Leon's cave was surrounded only by the natural rock that had withstood the wear and tear of dragon claws; Yuffie had a collection of shells, coral, tree branches, multi-colored bits of clay and various other objects scattered around the opening.

Sora caught Riku staring at a nearby shell and whispered, "I think she uses them for stealth practice, camouflage and things like that but Leon and I could never be sure." Riku had stayed far away from Yuffie's territory because of the peculiar display. Taking on a dragon was hard enough; he certainly wouldn't want to fight a mentally unstable one. It felt weird to be walking into her lair now. Despite his great affection for Sora, he let his partner lead as they walked into the cave.

The inside of Yuffie's lair was as confusing as the outside. Instead of opening into a large central room, the entrance soon split into five other passage ways. Sora took the second one with the airs of someone who had been through the caves before and Riku was forced to trust his navigation. Riku had been lucky that Leon was Sora's dragon and not Yuffie. It would have taken his months to find all the secondary exits to her complex cave layout.

By the second turn, the dark passage had become lighted by the same glowing rocks that Riku had seen in Leon's cave. Sora led him through three more forks before they finally came into a room instead of another passage way. Metal objects lined the walls of the room and it took Riku a minute to realize that they were human weapons. Swords, shields, halberds, spears, axes, all hung on the walls in a frightening display of power. Riku was about to ask where Yuffie had acquired all the weapons from but soon realized that he didn't want to know.

Sora pressed on undisturbed, maneuvering around a torture table and carefully stepping over a large shuriken. Riku followed closely behind, not wanting to get lost amongst the blades. The next room was the kitchen although it was hard to identify in its current state. Leon's kitchen may have needed organizing but Yuffie's needed destroyed. Hard piles of gunk lined every surface and pots were so stained that it was hard to tell if they were empty. Riku did find it interesting that there seemed to be no human sized rooms in Yuffie's cave. Although it didn't seem like anyone did much cooking, the dragon could easily fit into her kitchen if she wanted to. Riku guess it was because a dragon's usual human captives would be unable to cook. It made him curious as to what came first: Sora and his cooking ability or Leon's human sized kitchen.

Riku was about to comment on the irony of getting a cooking ingredient from a dragon with a kitchen like that when he felt Sora freeze in front of him. He was about to push Sora out of the way of the threat when he saw what had startled the brunet.

"WHAT are you doing in MY kitchen, Sora? I believe I warned you and your obnoxious friend Kairi to stay out of my herbs! She's not even here is she, probably still out destroying her country's reputation. So what are you-"

The girl finally stopped to breathe when she caught sight of Riku. He waved pleasantly when it started to seem like she wasn't going to snap out of her shock and had to quickly jump back when she suddenly launched herself at him.

"Oh, dear knight, come to rescue me from my imprisonment! How tiresome your journey must have been in the company of such a guide," Olette said, eying Sora distastefully. She seemed oblivious to Riku's attempts to pry her off. Sora had removed himself from the situation, moving back against one wall. Riku didn't like the sullen look on Sora's face and his protectiveness gave him the sudden audacity to push Olette off of him. She landed on her back with a hurt and confused expression and Riku's manners came flooding back to him all at once. She may be annoying but that didn't give him right to mistreat her.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not here to rescue you," he said, trying to sound regretful as he helped the girl to her feet. From the wistful look in her eyes he guessed he had been successful.

"This is Prince Riku from the Kingdom of Jenova. He's here to rescue Kairi," Sora interrupted suddenly. Riku could tell he was forcing himself to maintain the same tone of formality that Riku and Olette were using. Sora had smirked when Riku threw Olette off but all hints of amusement were gone now.

From the look on her face, Olette didn't seem to like Kairi any more than she did Sora. "You may be in for a long wait then. How long have you been playing the Princess stand-in Sora? Almost a year and a half now, isn't it?" Her sickly sweet tone and the way Sora flinched as if the facts physically hurt him made Riku want to slap her, despite his early pledge to be polite. Had he been anything other than a well trained Jenovan prince, he probably would have.

"Actually, I'm fine with the wait. Sora has been a wonderful host." Sora gave him an incredulous look at the last line but Riku ignored him, focusing all of his charm on Olette. "But Leon, on the other hand, is not very fond of me. You see, he's given me this ultimatum. Either I retrieve some chimera blood from another dragon or I won't be allowed to stay any longer." He threw in a dramatic sigh for emphasis but it was unnecessary, as she was already hanging onto his every word.

"Taking on an extra quest for the one you love! How romantic!" It took a huge amount of effort on Riku's part to not smile at Sora's mimed gag as Olette swooned.

Riku coughed instead to hide his amusement. "Yes, well, Sora tells me that Yuffie may have some chimera blood in her stocks. You wouldn't happen to know of any, would you?"

From the way her face fell, Riku knew that they were both going to be disappointed with her answer. "Yuffie doesn't do much cooking and I wouldn't have a notion as to what any of that stuff is anyway," Olette said, giving the kitchen an offhanded gesture. "Although Sora cooks, so I'm sure he'll know where to find it." Sora narrowed his eyes at her but did start going through the cabinets.

"And while he's doing that," Olette said slyly before herding Riku out of the kitchen and into another set of passageways, "you can come meet the other girls! I'm sure they'll all be so very pleased to have some civilized male company."

Sora made no movement to stop them and since Riku wasn't eager to be around the chimera blood again, he let Olette lead him into the first human-sized room they had come to in the caves, a well furnished dining room. Four other girls sat around the table sipping tea, although they all quickly rose when he entered the room.

"Girls, this is Prince Riku of Jenova. Riku, this is Princess Tifa of Hollow Bastion, Princess Jasmine of Agraba, Princess Elizabeth of Port Royal and Lady Selphie of the Destiny Islands. And I, of course, am Princess Olette of Twilight Town."

Leave it to a princess to point out that the last girl in their group wasn't a princess at all. The Destiny Islands must be truly desperate to have an acceptable female to rescue if they sent out a minor duchess along with their princess. Riku might have felt bad for the girl if she hadn't decided to cast her lot with the other princesses. Any person in court would know that you are judged on the company you keep.

"It's very good to meet you all," Riku said with a deep bow. The room was quiet for a second before the squeals broke out. He was instantly reminded of being back at court and not in a good way. The girls asked him a barrage of questions about his quest and the situation in the kingdoms. They seemed disappointed that he wasn't up to date with the latest court gossip because of his journeying but didn't let that stop them from throwing themselves all over him. After a few minutes of harassment, Riku was looking for a way out.

"I apologize for cutting our meeting short, my dears," he finally managed say during a brief lull in the conversation, "but I must really be getting back to Sora. My deadline for Leon is this evening and I don't want to be late." The girls whined at first but reluctantly let Olette take Riku back to the kitchen as they resumed their tea time. He had no doubt that he was going to be a major topic of conversation for days to come.

Sora was not in the kitchen, however, and Riku was forced to endure more of Olette's babbling as she took him to the entrance. Sora was waiting outside, a familiar looking jar in his hands. Riku wondered exactly when Sora had located the chimera blood and why the brunet had left him at the mercy of the princesses.

"I see you had success," Olette said coldly but Riku was only concerned that Sora wouldn't meet his gaze.

"Yup. Tell Yuffie that Leon will make it up to her later." Sora glanced up at the sun, which had already moved across the sky. "Looks like we have to leave, Riku, if we want to be back by sundown." Sora started walking off, not waiting for Riku's response.

"Oh well," Olette sighed dramatically. "It was so nice to meet you, Prince Riku, and I do hope-"

Riku didn't wait for her to finish, jogging to catch up with Sora. He heard her huff but offered no apology. It was easier to be rude when his standing with Sora was in jeopardy.

"Hey, wait up!" When Sora showed no signs of slowing down, Riku grabbed his arm and spun the other around to face him. "What's with you? If you were ready to leave, you should have come and gotten me."

Sora stared at the ground. "I was not invited back with you two. It would have been rude of me to crash your party. Besides, I figured you would enjoy talking to other people of your… status." He tried to wiggle free of Riku's grasp but Riku held tight.

"If I had wanted to talk to people of my "status", I would just go home. But I don't. Because honestly, they bore me. My upbringing has taught me to memorize all their names and faces but personality wise I couldn't tell them apart from any other princesses I've met. But you, Sora, _you_ are interesting. _You_ are the one I'd rather be talking to."

Riku tried to put all the emotions he had been feeling into his speech but he could tell that Sora wasn't convinced. The brunet finally worked himself free of Riku's grasp, taking a few steps back before regarding the prince with a guarded expression.

"You'll like Kairi," Sora said finally. Riku felt his heart twist at Sora's dejected tone. "She's not like the other girls. You two will be perfect for each other."

Riku would have said something else, tried to convince Sora of his affections but he realized that Sora was done talking to him. Again. He hadn't yet passed a day without being shut out. So instead of arguing the point, he followed behind Sora in silence as they trekked back to Leon's cave.

Going with Olette had been a mistake. He should have realized how much being around the other princesses upset Sora. The only good that had come out of the trip was his extension for time. Sora had told Olette that Riku was staying until Kairi returned, not that he was leaving when his wounds were healed. Riku had no idea when Kairi might return but it was easier to think without a deadline looming over him.

Unfortunately, Riku was sure that his relationship with Sora had taken a few steps back. He could only hope that a good night's sleep would make the other more willing to hear him out.

* * *

_So I turned in a 40-page research paper last week and am very happy to be done with technical writing for the year. :D Back to my beloved fiction!_

_I apologize to any Olette lovers for this chapter. I needed a stuck-up character to foil Riku's advances and Olette was pretty much the only female I didn't already have plans for.  
_

_Some of you were asking about Organization XIII in the review... yes, they will be making an appearance, although not for a few chapters. Next chapter we'll meet more human characters as Riku meets up with a fellow quester and plays match maker with the other princesses, much to Sora's displeasure._

_As always, leave me a review on your way out... I love hearing from you guys! Having a bunch of hits is all well and good but nothing beats getting reviews. :3_


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